 Mooncakes are to Mid-Autumn Festival what mince pies are to Christmas. The seasonal round cakes traditionally have a sweet filling of lotus seed paste or red bean paste and often have one or more salted duck eggs in the center to represent the moon. And the moon is what this celebration is all about. Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th month, it is the time when the moon is said to be at its brightest and fullest. This year the festival falls on October 1.
There are two legends which claim to explain the tradition of eating mooncakes. One Tang Dynasty myth holds that the Earth once had 10 suns circling it. One day all 10 suns appeared at once, scorching the planet with their heat. It was thanks to a skillful archer named Hou Yi that the Earth was saved. He shot down all but one of the suns. As his reward, the Heavenly Queen Mother gave Hou Yi the Elixir of Immortality, but she warned him that he must use it wisely. Hou Yi ignored her advice and, corrupted by fame and fortune, became a tyrannical leader. Chang-Er, his beautiful wife, could no longer stand by and watch him abuse his power so she stole his Elixir and fled to the moon to escape his angry wrath. And thus began the legend of the beautiful woman in the moon, the Moon Fairy. The second legend has it that during the Yuan Dynasty, an underground group led by Zhu Yuan Zang was determined to rid the country of Mongolian dominance. The moon cake was created to carry a secret message. When the cake was opened and the message read, an uprising was unleashed which successfully routed the Mongolians. It happened at the time of the full moon, which, some say, explains why mooncakes are eaten at this time. Mooncakes are usually stamped with Chinese characters indicating the name of the bakery and the type of filling used. Some bakeries will even stamp them with your family name so that you can give personalised ones to friends and family. They are usually presented in boxes of four which indicate the four phases of the moon. Traditional mooncakes are made with melted lard, but today vegetable oil is more often used in the interests of health. Mooncakes are not for the diet-conscious as they are loaded with calories. The best way to wash down one of these sticky cakes is with a cup of Chinese tea, especially Jasmine or Chrysanthemum tea, which aids the digestion. (Agencies) | 中秋節吃月餅就像西方人圣誕節吃百果餡餅一樣，是必不可少的。圓圓的月餅中通常包有香甜的蓮子餡或是紅豆餡，餡的中央還會加上一個金黃的咸鴨蛋黃來代表月亮。而月亮正是中秋節慶祝的主題。每年農歷8月15日人們一起慶祝中秋，據說這一天的月亮是一年中最亮最圓的。今年的中秋節恰好是陽歷的10月1日（中國的國慶日）。 關于吃月餅這個傳統的來歷有兩個傳說。一個是唐朝的神話故事，說的是當時地球被10個太陽包圍著。有一天10個太陽同時出現在天空中，巨大的熱量幾乎把地球烤焦了。多虧一位名叫后羿的神箭手射下了9個太陽，地球才被保住。為了獎勵后羿，王母娘娘賜給后羿一種長生不老藥，但是王母警告他必須正當使用。然而后羿沒有理會王母娘娘的警告，他被名利沖昏了頭腦，變成了一個暴君。后羿美麗的妻子嫦娥對他的暴行再也不能袖手旁觀，于是她偷走了后羿的長生不老藥，飛到月亮上逃避后羿的狂怒。從此就有了關于月宮仙子嫦娥，這個月亮上的美麗女人的傳說。 第二個傳說講的是在元朝，朱元璋領導的起義軍計劃起義來擺脫蒙古族的統治。他們用月餅來傳遞密信。掰開月餅就可以找到里面的密信，起義軍通過這種方式成功的發動了起義，趕走了元朝的統治者。這場起義發生在八月十五之時，于是中秋節吃月餅的習俗便在民間傳開來。 
通常月餅上都印有漢字，標明月餅的制造商和月餅的餡的種類。有些制造商還會在月餅上刻上顧客的姓，這樣贈送給親朋好友的月餅就更有人情味了。月餅通常是每盒里裝四塊，代表月亮的四個變化階段。傳統的月餅制作使用的是豬油，但是現在為了身體健康，已經改為使用植物油了。 由于月餅所含的熱量較大，因此減肥人士不宜多吃。吃這種甜膩的食物最好是就著一杯中國茶，特別是茉莉花茶或是菊花茶，這樣可以有助于消化。 (中國日報網站) |
Updated: 2001-09-30 01:00
